Artificial foot.



l Patented June 24, |902 M. SMITH.

ARTIFICIAL FUOT.

(Application led Sept. 24, 1901.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

MATTHE\V SMITH, OF LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, ASIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO EDIVARDHENRY VALKER, OF BOOTLE, COUNTY OF LANCASTER,

ENGLAND.

ARTIFICIAL FOOT.

SPEGIFTCATIGN forming part of Letters Patent N o. 703,156, dated June24, 1902. Application filed September 24,1901. Serial No. 76,341. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, MATTHEW SMITH, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, residing at et Arthur street, Seaforth,'Liverpool, in thecounty of Lancaster, England, have invented' certain new and usefulImprovements in Artiticial Feet, (for which application has been made inGreat Britain, under No. 14,894, and dated July 22, 1901,) of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention has for its object an artificial foot and embodies'certain improvements which will now be described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of myartificial foot; Fig. 2, a cross-section.

The lower part of the leg A, including a small portion of the top of thefoot, is made of light wood and is of suitable length to attach to theartificial foot. This wooden part rests on a pneumatic cushion B, formedby an india-rubber or otherrlike bladder, in a casing C, of leather orany other suitable material. The above partstogether with the lowerportion of the wooden part, are laced at J and screwed at K or otherwiseincased in a leatherl cover or boot D, thus forming the ankle and footfrom the heel to the instep, the sole of the above covering or bootbeing pliable and cut to the form of the human foot. The part E of thefoot from the toes to the instep is made of granulated cork or likeresilient material, also incased in leather and is fastened onto thecontinuation of the aforesaid sole not occupied by the heel part. Thistoe portion can, if desired, be hinged to the front part, so that it canbe iexed in the act of walking. The ankle-joint has in someconstructions heretofore consisted of the socket or axial bolt in thefoot, and little or no provision is made for absorbing vibration. Bythis invention, however, the air-cushion B removes this difiiculty, asit provides both resilience and freedom of motion in every directionwithin certain defined limits, like a universal joint, and effects avery considerable reduction in weight.

The wooden part A, comprising the ankle and a small portion of the foot,is of same shape as that of the human limb, narrowing toward the bottomof the ankle and then slightly spreading out to form a portion of thetop of the foot and heel. The under surface a of this part or thatresting on the pneumatic'cushion is of convex section from front toback,allowing of easy and efficient ankle action, and as the lowest point ofthe convex surface comes in or near the middleit tends to bulge out theends of the pneumatic cushion B, thus getting full advantage of theresiliency of the cushion, and as the surface in question is of lessarea than that of the cushion there is less wear, owing to the absenceof creasingof the cushion while it is being walked on,which would takeplace were the surface to overlap the cushion. This arrangement alsoallows certain liberty of ankle action or for- .ward and backwardrocking movement,which ing in a groove in the fore part of the ankle,

through which a tube G or suitable valve connection can be brought fromthe bladder part B `of the pneumatic cushion, so that this bladder canbe easily inflated without any portion of the foot having to beunfastened, theupper end of the tube normally lying inside the groove.The part E of the foot from the toes to the instep is brought to bearright up against the heel part and being formed of granulated cork orthe like incased in leather or other covering F and fastened onto apliable sole affords ample toe action. The arti eial foot thus formedwill fit any ordinary kind of boot, such as H, which will thus haveexactly the same appearance as if there were a natural and not anartificial foot inside of it. If necessary, the toe portion of theartifiicial foot can be dispensed with, in which case the toe of theordinary boot would have roo to be blocked up with cork or likeresilient material.

I declare that what I claim is- 1. In an artificial limb, thecombination with an artificial leg having an ankle portion at its lowerend, of a boot, the top of which embraces said ankle portion of the leg,an air-cushion under the said leg and forming the heel portion of thefoot, and the part forming the front portion of the foot, said frontportion abutting against said cushion, and the said front portion andheel portion being inclosed within said boot, substantially as setforth.

2. In an artilicial limb, the combination with the articial leg having aconvex lower end from front to rear, a cushion under the lower end ofsaid leg and forming the heel portion only of the foot, the frontportion of the foot abutting at the rear against said cushion, and meansfor connecting said parts together, substantially as and for the purposeset forth.

3. In an artificial foot and in combination, the pneumatic cushion andartificial leg having its basal surface that rests against said cushionslanting downward transversely from the outside to the inside,substantially as and for the purpose described. y

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name, this 7th day ofSeptember, 1901, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MATTHEW SMITH.

Vitnesses:

G. C.' DYMoND, ALBERT C. B. HENRI.

